The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1887-03-04
A II BL4SHER TALKS
OF HIS EXPERIENCE WITH AUTHORS
WHO HAVE WRITTEN A BOOK.

A Manuscript Worth Having is Like .
Grain of Wheat in BusheI of Chat,
Books Issued at the Authors Risk.-The
Criticism of Experts.
Glow do we determine whether
manuscript is likely to suit our pur-
poses? Well" continued the publisher,
'that is a pretty broad question. There
are so many things to be considered and
such diversity Of conditions that psr-
haps no two cases are handled in precisely
the same way. Now, suppose you were
an author with manuscript. Unless you
had some previous experience, the chances
are that when walking into my Office and
taking q seat by.rly desk you would feel
rather Shaky in the neighbOrhOOd of your
knees. Your throat would also need cor
siderable clearing and I would nave to
be quite affable and polite before YOU
would begin to feel at all easy in mind or
body. After smoothing down the thorny
path to the extent of at least endeavOring
to make you feel at home, l would under
take to find out whether you were the
kind of man who would be likely to write
a book of the kind you are Offering me-
l would also undertake to discover
whether you wrote he manuscript be-
cause you had something to say, or simply
for the purpose of making book that
might possibly sell and thus add to your
income and reputation.
A GRAIN OF WHEAT.
''You see, there is 80 much perfunctory
book making in these days that a manu-
script worth having is very much like
grain of wheat in a bushel of chaff.
Some publishers order a new book from
a hack writer pretty much as they would
order pair of trousers, but my own no
ton is that unless q man is so full of
his subject that he can't help writing his
book won't amount to very much when
it is written. A manufacturer can weave
any given number of yards of cloth to
order, and an architect can Build house
to correspond exactly with the size of
your bank account, but when publisher
says to some penny-a-liner, here, [ want
a book of 800 pages on The Rise and Fall
of Republican Principles in Europe OF
some other abstract question of that sort,
you can be very sure that when written
the book viii not be really worth reading
much less printing and publishing. When
q man comes to me whose ideas have evil
IDENTIFY overlooked into a manuscript I feel
that there is some promise in his work
and ask him to leave the manuscript.
The clerk at the next desk enters the
name of the work and other necessary
facts in a register and then the package
goes into the vault, where it remains I'M
til | can find time to read enough of the
work to fully appreciate its drift. This
done, / can determine upon a reader who
is likely to do it justice, and the writing
goes into his hands for careful and
thoughtful reading and examination. On
the completion of his work he returns
the manuscript, together with his criti
cism written out in full. The same pro-
cess is gone through with in important
cases several times.
A CASE IN POINT.
''SOme manuscripts l have had exam
ined by half Il dozen experts, and then
after comparing their opinions. i nave
very fair and comprehensive idea of the
merits and dement's of the book. Here
is a case III point, being a manuscript all
the way from Vermont. 1t was read by
five or six experts, and, on comparing
their opinions, / found that they had all
picked upon the same peak spots, and at
the same time each had discovered just
about the same amount of merit in it,
The manuscript was returned to the au-
thor, together with these criticisms, and |
he was told that after the changes were |
duly made his work would be duly pub |
lished.
Perhaps you were not aware Of the |
fact but it is fact, that a great many !
books carrying the imprint of well
known publishers are not issued at their |
risk Books that promise ready sale for
any reason are issued usually at the ex
pense of the publisher, who pays royalty
to the author. If there is any reason to |
doubt the complete success of the venture |
the author is required to contribute to /
the expense Of printing, and in some cases |
he is obliged to pay the entire cost. l |
sonnet 1es have men come to me with |
manuscripts who claim that they can sell /
500 copies to their own friends In one |
such case l told the gentleman that l |
1-r d whether he would sell fifty cop
-es ON any such basis He was at first
lLe'u to be offended at such an out
Spok opinion, but cooled off, and hay
ing IN confidence in the potency of his
uame n the town where he lived he as
summed the entire risk of publishing the
book Now, how many do you suppose !
he sol in the territory where he expected |
- sci five hundred? OF course you can't
"-a-- but as a matter of actual fact he
lst twenty-five copies. The publ
Of book is purely business mat
the book is wanted people will
if they do not want it very few
~ it simply because they know the
l have sold over eighty thou
copies of a book by man whose
had never been heard of beyond
circle, bit you see, the book had
hing in it.''-Chicago Herald.
Writing the Christmas Stories.